It’s no secret that Progressive Trance has moved on from the mainstages of 2011 towards the deep recesses of the underground, as the main support from Above & Beyond‘s ‘Trance 2.0’ sound has effectively ceased to exist. While a genre retreating into the background may initially seem like a huge blow to the sanctity and preservation of said genre, it is also a chance for the style to recuperate from all of the copycats and bandwagoners. It is during these times that we see fresh new faces and exceptional talent rise from the ashes of the genre’s glory days, and these outstanding individuals work tirelessly in order to rebuild Prog Trance to its former influence and prestige. Incidentally, one of these shining talents comes from a new find in the form of Jallen from Oakland, California, whose exceptional talents and wide range of selective abilities has paved the way towards a bright, new future for this star studded lad. We first reviewed his exploits when he crafted a masterful Progressive rework of Sedi‘s Breaking The Ice on Elliptical Sun Melodies. Since then, he has gained a huge step in his career by winning the remix contest for Matt Lange‘s I Can’t Forgive on Anjunadeep and has gained massive support with artists such as Ronski Speed, Las Salinas, LTN and Above & Beyond. Now, he is confidently testing the waters of Progressive Trance with a brand new single on Macarize aptly entitled Moments.
While completely over-saturated almost to the point of self parody a few years ago, the classic Prog Trance formula is now a rarity nowadays; and is quite a welcome surprise when we hear a track that actually follows these set of rules. Moments is pure Progressive Trance in its finest and yet, it manages to capitalize on sound production and engineering to deliver some of the hottest and most forward thinking melodies of this generation. The entire piece contains a certain feel of freshness to it and each of the laboriously fine tuned timbres make this piece pop throughout each and every phrase. It starts off with the classic, minimal complexo opening which helps set the mood of the piece with its rhythmic nature and coercive basslines, and almost feels like an appetizer before the main meal. The breakdown is where the piece really shines, as decadent, flowing synths caress the soul in overflowing joy and beauty before the onset of soothing vocals and a particularly piercing piano line add just the right amount of touch needed to make this track special. Twinkling, revolving synths playfully tickle the ear in perfect form as the piece gears up towards a low key, yet intensifying buildup to complete its journey towards its anticipatory release. The resulting drop is massively impactful in design, as stabbing main room melodies, gritty synth afterthoughts and punchy percussions unleash a fury of magical beauty that only intensifies with the welcome return of those amazingly twinkling synths. This is the lost sound of Anjunabeats that I have been missing for many months now and while they might be doing their own thing nowadays, I can at least be confident that their brand of magic has not completely died within the confines of Progressive Trance.
Jallen‘s fantastic new single, Moments, will be out tomorrow on Macarize Live via Beatport, so make sure you purchase a copy and support real talent!
Keep the music alive. -Q
On Sunrise Sessions, we find tracks that best exemplifies the chilled, low energy vibes of early Sundays to start your day off on the right foot. We want to show you what many are missing and help you discover an entire ecosystem of music that’s waiting to be explored. Not to be held down by genres, we look into music in a variety of styles, including Progressive, Deep House, Ambient and even tracks that aren’t a part of EDM! Every week, we unfold a wide variety of artists ranging from established, well known names to producers who purely reside in the underground.
